water chestnut

noun

1. any aquatic plant of the genus Trapa, bearing an edible, nutlike fruit, especially T. natans, of the Old World.

2. the fruit itself.

water chestnut

noun

1. Also called: water caltrop. a floating aquatic onagraceous plant, Trapa natans, of Asia, having four-pronged edible nutlike fruits

2. a Chinese cyperaceous plant, Eleocharis tuberosa, with an edible succulent corm

3. the corm of the Chinese water chestnut, used in Oriental cookery

Word History and Origins

Origin of water chestnut¹

First recorded in 1850–55